Friday, March 3, 2017, 6:49 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “My Heart’s Desire.” Speak, Lord, your
words to my heart. I read Jude 1
(quoting select vv. NASB).
Contend for the Faith (vv. 1-4)
Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of
James,
To those who are the called, beloved in God the
Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy and peace and love be multiplied
to you.
Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you
about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that
you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the
saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long
beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace
of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
So, here is the situation we
are in today within the church. There are certain people who have presently
crept (sneaked) into the gatherings of the church unnoticed. Now, it isn’t that
they are physically invisible, but that their lifestyles are secretive, and that
they put on a good show outwardly so that the believers in Jesus will think
that these people are one with them in the faith. But, they are not (see
description of them in next section)! They are ungodly people who turn the
grace of God into free license to continue in sin. And, many of them are
preachers, elders, and teachers, too. So, they are in positions of leadership
and influence within the church gatherings.
What many of them have done
is to change the nature of the church gatherings by opening up these assemblies
to the world, advertising them and marketing them to the world, as though they
are big theatre, which many of them are. Since their customer base is now the
world, they engage in worldly means and methods to attract the world to the “church.”
They utilize human marketing schemes (plans, tricks, gimmicks) to lure the
world into these meetings and then they entertain the world in order to keep
them coming back. Their goal is to be non-offensive, so the world will feel at
home in the “church,” and thus they also dilute the gospel to make it acceptable.
They teach a half-truth
(false grace) gospel which teaches that people can merely say the words “Jesus
is Lord” and believe that he died to free us from condemnation, and to promise us
heaven when we die. In addition, they teach that nothing is required of them at
all – no repentance, no obedience and no submission to Christ and his cross.
Not only that, but they tell them that, once they have repeated a prayer after
someone, their salvation and heaven are guaranteed them no matter how they live
from that point on. In fact, they tell them that God is pleased with them and
that he delights in them no matter what they do, even when they are living in
gross sin.
So, we are being encouraged
here to contend earnestly for the faith. This means that we need to oppose and
challenge what is false, and we need to proclaim what is true, and not sit in
silence while the church goes down the tubes. We need to tell people the true
gospel, which is that we are to turn from darkness to light, and from the power
of Satan to God, so we can receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those
sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ. We need to tell them that faith in Jesus
Christ means we die with Christ to sin, and that we are resurrected with Christ
to newness of life, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness”
(Eph. 4:24). We need to tell them that Jesus died, not just so we can escape
hell and go to heaven when we die, but that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness.
We need to tell them, as
well, that God’s grace to us is not a free license to continue in sin without
guilt and without remorse. They need to know that his grace, which brings
salvation, teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to
live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we wait for Christ’s return
(Tit. 2:11-14). They need to be told that faith in Jesus Christ means that we
no longer conduct our lives according to our sinful flesh, but that we now live
our lives according to the Spirit of God. In fact, if we live according to the
flesh, we will die in our sins, but if by the Spirit we are putting to death
the deeds of the flesh, we will live with Christ for eternity. If we say we
have fellowship with God, but we walk (in lifestyle) in darkness (sin,
wickedness), then we are liars (Ro. 8:1-14; 1 Jn. 1:6).
The faith that they teach is
man-made and of human origin. But, the faith which saves us is God-given, and
thus it is divinely persuaded as to God’s perfect will for our lives. If we are
persuaded by God as to his will, then we will surrender to him. We will submit
to his purposes. And, thus we will be crucified with Christ in death to sin and
resurrected with him to newness of life, to be lived to his righteousness. We
won’t have this misconstrued idea that we can keep on living however we want
and still go to heaven when we die. We will know the truth, and the truth will
set us free! Free from sin!
The Ungodly Persons (Summary vv. 5-16)
They:
· Indulge in gross (sickening) immorality
· Go after strange flesh (unnatural relations)
· Reject authority (are contentious and rebellious)
· Revile (insult, abuse) things they do not understand
· Follow after their own instincts, like unreasoning
animals
· Have gone the way of Cain and rushed into the error of
Balaam
· Are hidden reefs (hazardous obstructions) in your fellowships
· Feast (partake, dine) with you without fear
· Care only for themselves
· Are wild waves of the sea tossed by the wind
(double-minded)
· Cast up their own shame (disgrace) like foam (fine
bubbles)
· Are wandering (deviating, straying) stars
· Do ungodly deeds in an ungodly way
· Speak harshly against God, his Word and/or his
servants
· Grumble and are fault finders
· Follow after their own ungodly lusts
· Speak arrogantly
· Flatter people for the sake of gaining an advantage
· Are mockers
· Cause divisions
· Are worldly-minded
· Are devoid of the Spirit
Build Yourselves Up (vv. 17-25)
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most
holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God,
waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And
have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the
fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the
flesh.
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and
to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the
only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion
and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
So, as followers of Christ,
we are to build ourselves up in our “most holy” faith. To build up is to
develop, encourage and increase ourselves in our faith, but we do this only in
the strength, power and counsel of the Holy Spirit who dwells within the Lord’s
true followers. And, “most holy” means that we are not to be like the world,
but we are to be set apart from being like the world because we are being made
to be like Jesus. So, this means that we need to be walking by faith, by the
Spirit, and in agreement with the Spirit, and that we should no longer be
living to gratify the sinful cravings of our flesh. And, the Lord is able to
keep us from stumbling, and to make us to stand strong and steadfast in our
faith, too. All glory belongs to God!
So, what responsibility do we
have to those who are pretending to be Christians, but who are ungodly, or who
believe they are Christians because they have believed a lie? Or, to those out
in the world who have made no profession of faith in Christ at all? I believe
we have a responsibility to tell them the truth and to expose to them the lies
they are believing. And, we must stay strong in our faith and not let them
bring us down with them, even if they fiercely attack us. Then, perhaps, we may
snatch some of them from the fires of hell and save them from condemnation and
from a lifetime of slavery to sin, so they may know Christ and have eternal
life with God.
My Heart’s Desire / An Original Work / June 29, 2013
Based off Rm. 10; Lu. 9:23-26; Ep. 4:20-24
Loved Ones, Oh, my heart’s
desire
Is that you might come to
Jesus.
Many appear zealous for God,
But they do not trust in Him.
They have not submitted to
the One
Who saved them from their
sins;
Not forsaken their sins,
Nor have they obeyed their
King.
The word of the Lord is near
you:
The word of faith we’re
proclaiming:
That you must confess your
faith
In Jesus as your Lord and
King:
Believe in Him as your Lord,
And follow Him where’er He
leads.
Share the gospel; be a
witness,
And meet others’ needs.
Beautiful are the feet of
those
Who bring the good news of
Jesus:
Anyone who would come to Him
Must deny himself today;
Die to sin and self, and
Let the Spirit transform you
in heart;
Put on your new self in
Jesus,
Yielding to the cross.
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